


Masquerade Ball

by ketchupblood



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-22
Updated: 2010-09-22
Packaged: 2017-10-17 17:48:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/179557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ketchupblood/pseuds/ketchupblood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It isn't about the dance; it's about them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Masquerade Ball

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://everlind.livejournal.com/profile)[**everlind**](http://everlind.livejournal.com/) for switching_it_up.

  
The moment the vote came in, Yagyuu's heart sank. He could see the same thing reflected on the faces of everyone else in the room with him. Sanada, in particular, looked pained. Though no one said so explicitly, their planning clearly reflected that they were worried about what a certain member of their class might pull. Though Niou normally kept his pranks to a reasonable level, even Yagyuu thought that he might consider the costume ball a challenge and try to do something insane.

Either way, Yagyuu didn't anticipate enjoying the night very much. To begin with, he had never much liked dances—almost none of his peers actually knew how to dance and their poor imitation of sex was not particularly exciting, especially not with teacher chaperones keeping their imitations from getting too close. Even worse, as much as he occasionally enjoyed Niou's pranks, as a member of the planning committee, he had to somehow keep the event going on as planned which meant that he would have to either control or clean up after Niou. Neither sounded particularly enjoyable.

There was nothing he could do about it, though, so he went about buying cheap tablecloths and ugly cardboard decorations like the planning committee had decided. If he was less enthusiastic than he was expected to be, people would just put it down to his reluctance to deal with whatever Niou would come up with for the dance. Meanwhile, Niou was incredibly well-behaved in the weeks leading up to the dance, though Yagyuu doubted many people were fooled.

Still, since Niou still clung to keeping the illusion of mystery around himself, Yagyuu kept his suspicions about Niou's plans to himself. Since he was questioned by practically everyone, from Niou's legion of fangirls to the teacher in charge of chaperoning for the night, Yagyuu certainly hoped Niou appreciated it.

"I do!" Niou had said when Yagyuu brought it up, in one of the rare moments when they were both free—yet another reason Yagyuu couldn't wait for the dance to be over. "And what do you mean 'illusion?'"

"You are incredibly obvious once I got to know you," Yagyuu told him.

"You were obvious before I got to know you!"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, you had a stick up your ass the entire time."

"I actually didn't have anything up my ass until I met you," Yagyuu managed to say with a straight face.

"Did you just—" Niou collapsed in a fit of laughter. "Seriously?" he managed to gasp out.

"Who was obvious, again?"

"Want me to show you just how not obvious I am?" Niou smirked.

"I would love for you to, but I already know what you're going to do."

"Any objections?" Niou asked as he crawled onto Yagyuu's lap.

"Not at all." Yagyuu wrapped an arm around Niou's neck and pulled him down to a kiss. "Just," he added as they pulled apart for air, "don't turn into Sanada again."

Niou started laughing again and fell off of his lap and onto the covers. Yagyuu just watched him. "Are you still mad about that?" Niou asked when he finished.

"Yes," Yagyuu said plainly, though he didn't quite manage to suppress a smile.

"Come on, you know you always wanted to—"

"Making out with Sanada is one of the many things that I have never wanted to _imagine_ doing."

"Poor Sanada," Niou said as he draped himself over Yagyuu again. "He's missing out."

Yagyuu seriously doubted that Sanada particularly wanted to share a make-out session. Still, the reminder in the midst of planning made it difficult to work with Sanada without bursting into laughter, though that might have been the stress. He had controlled himself just fine after the actual incident and he had seen Sanada nearly as much, but they only saw each other at tennis then. Now they were sitting in meetings for hours together. It passed, though, and by the time the dance rolled around, he was able to interact with Sanada as before with no extra effort.

It may have helped that they were in two different planning areas. Sanada was setting up the sound system and Yagyuu was working with the welcoming committee. It was actually the least popular job, but it suited him. While everyone else wanted to go and enjoy the dance after their jobs, Yagyuu would rather stand just outside. It was cooler and stank less of too many bodies packed too tightly in too small a space.

The people came in first as a trickle. Yagyuu smiled politely at everyone who came in as he asked for their tickets. The trickle turned into a torrent rapidly—first of first-years who didn't know better than to come too early, then third-years who knew not to come too late, and finally the second-years—and back to a trickle again. Yagyuu kept an eye on the so-called dancing happening in the gym as he put the tickets away, though if he never saw a vampire again it would be too soon. The head chaperoning teacher was outside for a smoke break and had asked Yagyuu to get him if things got rowdy.

It had calmed down enough that Yagyuu was just leaning against the opposite wall watching Sanada dance awkwardly with a girl who was trying to grind against him when Niou came in. Yagyuu almost missed him, he came in so late—as far as Yagyuu knew, Niou tended to arrive early when he had a prank in progress. Then he saw what Niou was wearing.

"Please tell me you aren't serious about this," Yagyuu said, gesturing to the junior high tennis uniform Niou had on. It fit him correctly, though, so it was probably an illusion.

Niou stopped heading to the people still collecting tickets and stopped next to Yagyuu. "What, you thought I'd come here to say hi to you then go home to change?" he said with a grin.

"I was actually hoping that was just meant to give me a heart attack and you're about to make the illusion go away." Unfortunately, it seemed unlikely.

"I don't want to give you a heart attack." Niou leaned forward and said, softly, "You'd be much less fun that way."

"I'm sure I would be. Fortunately, you will also be much 'less fun' once Yukimura gets through with you for wearing that, so we will be equally 'not fun.'"

"What? It's a tennis uniform. He likes tennis." Niou grinned and added ridiculously, "It's even from a winning team."

"Of course." Yagyuu shook his head. "I had thought you weren't coming."

"What? It's practically a challenge. I can't just back down." Niou made no move to go into the gym, though. H e didn't even move to the ticket collecting table; instead, he leaned against the wall next to Yagyuu. "You have to stop me?"

"Preferably, yes."

"No fun." Niou mock pouted, as if Yagyuu could actually stop him.

"Sadly, I would have to agree." Yagyuu was sure he wasn't supposed to admit that.

"Are you supposed to do that?"

"No."

"Right. So, would you rather stop me or clean up after me?"

"Do I have an option?" Yagyuu asked, actually surprised.

"Only you," Niou said with the cheesiest smile. Yagyuu punched him playfully for it and Niou ducked away easily. "Seriously, though. I talked to the DJ. I can totally drive you guys crazy. Stop me or clean up?"

"Now that I know where to look, I suppose I have to stop you." Yagyuu did wonder about that. Niou should have known better than to tell him.

"Nah, you won't find it."

"Is that a bet?"

"Sure, if you want. I mean, I can walk in and Yukimura will drive us all insane for the next few weeks or you can keep me from turning in my ticket."

"And how would I do that, exactly?"

Niou gave Yagyuu his most suggestive smile. "I'm sure you'll think of something."

Yagyuu shook his head and grinned. "I'm not supposed to leave my station."

"Even to keep the dance running smoothly?"

"I suppose there's an exception for everything."

As if he would have stayed there to stand outside and watch high schoolers try to approximate an orgy while teachers did their best to keep everyone on the right side of "proper" while Niou was asking him to leave.

They didn't bother sneaking away. There were surprisingly few people who were leaving, but there were also very few people left coming in. Several of the greeters had already left, so no eyebrows were raised when Yagyuu left as well. Some of the people still collecting tickets did look surprised that he headed out, but they also looked just as grateful that he was taking Niou with him. Niou leered at them on his way out and they looked away. Yagyuu rolled his eyes.

It took them a few minutes to decide where to go, but they ended up agreeing on the park. They walked, since buses only came every half hour that late at night and they saw a bus leave the stop in front of school when they got out. They passed one or two couples who were late for the dance, holding hands and standing extremely close. Yagyuu didn't have to imagine what they were doing to make them late; one girl's ornate hair style was completely wrecked. He wondered briefly if he and Niou could hold hands as well, but discarded the notion when one of the girls squealed and a rubber frog dropped from her hair. The walk would be that much less interesting if one of Niou's hands were tied down.

The park was quiet when they arrived. There were one or two couples sitting together in the darker recesses and they passed a man jogging on the path followed by an old man pushing a scooter with twin toddlers in it.

"Think we could do it behind some bushes?" Niou muttered as they passed the man. Yagyuu didn't think he'd heard, but he did walk a little faster with what Yagyuu presumed were his grandchildren.

"I would rather not if it's the same to you."

"Okay." Niou pulled him onto the playset that was hidden by shadows. It would be in the shade during the day, so the children wouldn't be burned by the sun as they played, but at night it was one of the darkest parts of the park, since those same trees blocked the lamplight. They both stumbled a few times in the dark and laughed at each other when they did. Eventually, they made it up the rock wall and onto the platform next to a tunnel that led to the slides.

Yagyuu leaned against the metal tubing that made up one wall and Niou leaned on the opposite one. This had been their spot since they entered high school and realized they would have to fight to be on the regulars again. Niou had teased him mercilessly for wanting to meet on the playset the first time but hadn't since then.

"My parents never took us to the playground," he'd told Yagyuu about a year before.

"Never?"

"Nope."

"That seems rather sad." Yagyuu didn't think his parents had ever taken him either, yet it sounded sadder when Niou said it.

"Yeah, they liked being with interesting people so we would go to the food court at the mall and they would let us play on the tables or some shit."

"I'm sure the mall security hated you."

"Nah, we used to be cute."

"You're still rather—"

"If you say it, I'm leaving."

"—cute."

"Fuck you."

"I was under the impression you liked it the other way."

"Fucking prick."

Yagyuu had just looked at him until Niou looked up and they ended up laughing as a young boy tried to climb over them to get to the slide. The boy's mother looked at them disapprovingly.

They mostly went back at night after that, when there were no children to overhear their conversations. Niou's parents didn't care when he got back as long as he made it back in one piece and Yagyuu's parents trusted him, though they didn't understand why he would want to stay out so late. That night, though, no one would question where he was. It was the first dance of his last year of high school. They would just assume he was out with a nice girl.

"You should tell them about us," Niou said as they settled themselves, as if he were reading Yagyuu's thoughts.

"I wouldn't tell them about you if you were a girl," Yagyuu answered comfortably. They had had this conversation before. This time, though, he continued, "I'm surprised you haven't told your parents."

"They'd just think it's fun and I'm rebelling and being weird or something."

"They'd probably be proud of you for thinking up something so strange."

"Yeah, no shit," Niou muttered as he kicked Yagyuu's thigh lightly and motioned to some nearby bushes. "You sure we can't?"

"I'm sure we could, I would just rather not."

"Come on."

"Maybe if the team who normally wears that jersey of yours doesn't win again while we're still playing for Rikkai, we can celebrate."

"You're as bad as Yukimura."

"I'm using positive reinforcement. He uses negative."

"Yeah, but you guys have one track minds."

"I doubt you could claim differently of yourself."

"Yeah, but I think of interesting things."

"More interesting than tennis?" Yagyuu asked.

"Yeah!" Niou paused. "I mean, okay, maybe not."

"You wound me."

Yagyuu couldn't see it, but he imagined Niou was grinning at him. "Who said I thought about _you_?"

"Ouch." Yagyuu put his hand on his heart dramatically, though he wasn't sure Niou could see.

"Let me make it up to you, then."

"Please," Yagyuu said as he leaned forward to grab Niou's hand and pull him close, "do."

"Gladly," Niou answered before their lips met.

When they first got together, their kisses were quick and hungry. Yagyuu hadn't known Niou, then; he had assumed that that was just the way Niou was and had reciprocated accordingly. When he looked back on it now, though, he thought that he had just fallen for Niou's longest lasting illusion—the one of the trickster who didn't give a damn. Maybe he over-thought it, though. Maybe they were just in a rush to get to know one another.

It had been years now, though. Their kisses were slower; they knew each other. There was no rush and they had nowhere they had to go. They took their time enjoying one another, stopping occasionally for Niou to shove Yagyuu over to make room for him to sit comfortably or for Yagyuu to push Niou's hair out of the way.

"You sure?" Niou asked when they pulled apart again.

"Yeah." Yagyuu ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to straighten it out.

"Our parents are both home, though," Niou pointed out.

"Like that's stopped you before."

"I think it would be fun to do it outside."

"Yeah, probably."

"So why not?"

"After we win."

"Loser."

"Then we wouldn't do it here, so I hope not."

Niou punched him lightly. "Are you doing clean-up?"

"For the dance?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"Wanna go back?" Niou leaned closer and whispered, "It'll be hilarious."

Yagyuu thought about it. He really shouldn't.

Niou poked him. "Well?"

Yagyuu hesitated. He did have a responsibility to everyone to keep the dance running smoothly. Then again, everyone was probably _expecting_ something from Niou. They would be disappointed if nothing happened.

He stood and offered Niou his hand. Niou grabbed it and Yagyuu imagined he smirked as he did. "Let's go, then."  



End file.
